The coming test for Christie

6:45 PM,
Jan. 15, 2014

Written by

MICHAEL GERSON

There is something inherently absurd about a political scandal resulting from an event that could also have been caused by a stray deer and a truck filled with watermelons. Instead, the closing of two access lanes to the George Washington Bridge last fall was the result of stupidity and swagger in close proximity to one of the GOP's most promising presidential prospects.

Predictably, the scandal has unleashed a billiard table full of careening calculations. Democrats engage in premature hyperventilation because they fear that Gov. Chris Christie is an electable moderate conservative. ...